Anchors Away Birthday Party

My little guy turned ONE this past week! Im still in shock. (If you think life moves fast.. wait til you have kids.) For Avery’s first birthday I wanted to do a little man birthday party. You know.. mustaches and ties and lots plaid. The more I thought about it the more I realized I didnt know where to start with a little man party. What would the kids do? What would the cake be like? Favors? Ugh!

So, two weeks before his party we decided to go with anchor and sailboats. This I could work with! I have an slight obession with all things anchor and nautical. Im not sure if its because Im from a beach town, my husband was in the Navy or because its all just too stinkin cute.

Decorations:

I love this banner! It was my first complete project with my Silhouette. I was scared to us it at first but now we are good friends. Plus it has my little mans name on it.

Oh ya.. I made two banners. The first one didnt have any anchors so I made sure that the second one did. Ya.. they are big, but I love them! Ribbon + jute + anchors = super sweet banner for my little man.

The goodie table tea cart. The gifts bags for the kids and pirate hats instead of party hats. I thought the banners were my favorite part of the decorations.. but after I made the anchor frame I was so giddy. I almost jumped up and down with excitment. But I kept it cool.. maybe I squealed a little. Ill have a tutorial on the blog soon. So simple!

Food:

The food was easy and yummy. I let me real life sailor (aka hubby) do most of the cooking. Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and mac n cheese. And if your looking for Avery in that picture.. hes not there. Poor little guy wasnt feeling good and slept through his own party! He had a slight fever and kept pulling at his ear so grandma stayed inside and gave him cuddles.

We made jello with fish in it for a snack. You cant see the fish too good but the kids went bananas for these! They literally shoveled the jello in to get to the fish.

And I topped them off with a cute pennant flag. Ya know.. just in case a blue cup with fish wasnt nautical enough. The kids loved playing with the flags too. This was an overall kid approved treat and craft.

The cake! We have a local bakery down here that is amazing! I wanted to make Avery’s cake like I had made Ryley’s two months ago, but we were short on time and energy. I told the kids we didnt have to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ since Avery wasnt there but they werent going to eat until they sang to someone. So we sang to Avery.. who was inside the house asleep.

And of course we had ice cream.

Entertainment:

Last summer my mom bought a couple pools on clearance so we set up three and a water table and let the kids go wild. And the pools kinda went with our anchors away theme. Gosh.. sometimes I feel like I have it together. This was one of those rare times.

My mom also bought this little jungle gym slide rock wall thingy (haha.. you get the idea.. an outside play thingy) at a garage sale for $20! Yup.. shes super thrifty. One of the reasons I love her so so much!

And my little lady loved it too! She splish splashed all aftenoon and had so much fun. She was trying to have fun for her and brother. Good job sissy girl.

Jello + cake + pools + kids = success!

The Next Day:

Avery was feeling better the next day.. no fever, not pulling the ear. I think he just didnt want to be the center of attention at his party. (Insert my mom laughing here) HA! Im kidding.. this kid loves attention and is such a HAM!

See? Such a cheeser!

Oh my! I love that boy more then words can say. Happy Birthday Avery James!

Comments

LOVE the theme!! I love everything nautical/sailor-y probably b/c the hubs is in the Navy as well! I keep telling him our second baby has to be a spring/summer baby so I can do outside/water birthday parties!! Poor Avery though. So sorry he wasn't feeling well. Looks like everyone had a great time. Good Job Momma!

Kelly this is so adorable! I love everything! (And oh yeah, the kids are cute too, haha!) I cannot wait until my little man is 1 in September… My theme… I'm pretty sure I'm going with a little sir party… Staches and everything… I will really have to think it through!

This looks like such a great party. My little guy turned one today. We're doing a fish-themed party. Your little details were so great. Thanks for the ideas! I'm looking forward to reading more on your blog.

I love themed parties and this one is darling! I love the jello with the fish inside. Great idea.Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday this week. I can’t wait to see what you link up next week. Have a great day.